There have been many times in my younger days that I have been mystified by the different dates of Easter. This is a very special time of the year with celebrations and feasting, an incredible joyous time of the year. On Easter Sunday, I learned as a child, is when the sun dances at the rise of dawn. The Holiest day of the year.
Many times I did not know the date for Easter. I used to be in awe of the dates being different, because I could not place on the calendar that Easter is on such and such a date, unlike the date of Christmas, it is always Dec. 25 of every year no matter what day of the week it falls on. But Easter Sunday is set to be on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the middle of the month of March, which is also believed to be around the spring equinox.
Since learning about early Christianity, and brief history of the church I have come to learn that I am not the only one that has been confused by the precise date of Easter. The early church celebrated Easter by adhering to the tradition that Easter must always fall after the Jewish Passover, since the resurrection of Christ happened after the celebration of Passover. The earliest believers in the church wanted to keep the observance of Easter in correlation to the Passover Festival, which was apparently based on the solar and lunar cycles in which each feast day is moveable in which the dates shift from year to year.
I have learned that there is the continued argument determining the exact date of Jesus` resurrection. His followers apparently did not record the exact date of His resurrection.
In my earlier days I was lucky to learn and live the traditional celebrations of the cycle of life (Medicine Wheel) as dictated by the solar and lunar (subsequently earth) cycles. This was necessary when no written calendar was always available. The traditional elders taught that Easter (The Holy Day) is the day the sun dances as it comes up in the morning, some people also believe that it stops midday to dance and just before sundown it dances once more.
Year after year my grandparents got me up on Easter Sunday, and later on in life I would get up before sunrise and go out to wait and watch the sun come up. In my many years of waiting to see the sun dance, I have experienced it only twice in my lifetime. The first time I experienced this incredible sight was when my grandmother was still alive. There were people standing around looking towards the east. My grandmother called me, she handed me a dark cloth, she said, “Look through this … You shouldn’t look directly at the sun.” To my amazement the sun seemed to be moving up and down, it also moved towards the left and to the right and back to centre. My grandmother explained that the sun, as it danced, was making the sign of the cross.
It is a tradition that is still celebrated in my home community, we gather at the church point, have a sunrise ceremony and water ceremony on the lake and come into the church to celebrate our sunrise service and church breakfast afterward.
There are many years we are not able to see the sun come up because of the cloud cover; the disappointment of not seeing the sun come up is usually immediately replaced by unexplained joy, which is a mystery, but probably due to the celebration worldwide, of the resurrection of Jesus.
The happiness of Easter morning ceremonies, feasting, celebrating baptism and communion is how Easter is usually celebrated in our church and I assume many other churches across the world celebrate in similar ways, or even in more spectacular celebrations.
The joy of the Easter celebration, the happiness and the love of God that is felt on that day is resonated throughout the year as we return to our churches each and every Sunday to celebrate the Love of God felt on the very first celebration of Easter. I recall learning from my grandparents and later in my theology education is that on Sundays when gather for worship is a mini celebration of Easter.
Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. All the teachings of how much God loves us and his promises in the bible and the prophecies have been fulfilled. Living proof of God … truth revealed even shown by the magical dance of the sun.
Praise be to God.
Rev. Agnes Spence is an ordained minister for the United Church of Canada. She is presently the minister for the Weekend Supply Outreach Ministry in Thompson for the United Church of Canada; All Native Circle Conference in cooperation with St. John’s United Church. She worked closely with Rev. Leslie King at St. John’s United Church. She is a lifetime volunteer in her home church, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation United Church in Nelson House. Spence has worked in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in various capacities such as administrative assistant; social worker (NCN CFS), band councillor, and is presently full time employed at Nelson House Medicine Lodge as an addictions specialist 1 (alcohol and drug prevention program) NNADAP co-ordinator.
